- Authorities in New York claimed they searched the two after identifying them as individuals of interest in a “growing threat” and discovering a hunting knife and a swastika armband.
- Senior law enforcement officials claimed that when Brown was apprehended at the railway station, he was wearing the swastika armband.
- He claimed that the joint task team got to work right away “gathering information, identifying people behind it, and operationally neutralising their potential to do harm.”
In conjunction with an investigation into threats against the Jewish community, two males with access to firearms were detained early on Saturday at New York City’s Penn Station, according to authorities.
A Glock semiautomatic handgun, a sizable hunting knife, and a swastika armband were found during searches of the suspects, their possessions, and a house, according to two senior law enforcement sources.
The suspects were identified by the New York Police Department as Matthew Mahrer, 22, of the city’s Upper West Side, and Christopher Brown, 21, both of Aquebogue, New York, who were both detained on suspicion of criminal possession of a firearm and making terrorist threats.
It wasn’t immediately obvious whether the suspects have hired a lawyer. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by the local public defender’s office.
Senior law enforcement officials claimed that when Brown was apprehended at the railway station, he was wearing the swastika armband.
According to a statement from MTA Police Chief John Mueller, the pair was stopped at Penn Station after MTA police, who had been briefed by the multijurisdictional Joint Terrorism Task Force on the threats investigation, noticed and detained the couple there.
“The MTA PD officers performed a search and seized a huge hunting knife after stopping and positively identifying the persons of interest,” he said.
Authorities discovered “a developing danger to the Jewish community” for the first time on Friday, according to a statement from NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell.
He claimed that the joint task team got to work right away “gathering information, identifying people behind it, and operationally neutralising their potential to do harm.”
Online threats against the Jewish community, according to three sources in law enforcement. The Glock handgun and a 30-round magazine were discovered during the search of one of the suspects’ homes, which took place before the arrests, according to those sources. According to the law enforcement sources, both individuals had been observed visiting and leaving that house.
The possibility of filing federal charges in the case was under consideration, according to the investigators.
The “sharp-eyed MTA police officers” who discovered the criminals early on Saturday were commended by the NYPD.
In a tweet sent on Saturday, Sewell said, “Today, we’re tremendously grateful to NYPD investigators and our law enforcement allies who identified and thwarted a threat to our Jewish community.
According to police, they weren’t standing down.
In vulnerable areas all around New York City, “police agency commanders are carefully deploying assets,” Sewell added.
Leaders of the Anti-Defamation League in New York saluted police in a statement on Saturday. The ADL claimed to be cooperating with law enforcement and to be aware of the danger.
The arrest of a New Jersey teenager for allegedly making threats against a synagogue, the ADL leaders said, “comes at a time of heightened sensitivity in the New York area Jewish community.” “As always, we urge the public to exercise caution.”
According to the law enforcement sources, both individuals had been observed visiting and leaving that house.
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